The Greater Boston Chamber today announced the 2008 inductees into the Academy of Distinguished Bostonians.  These outstanding leaders were selected for their significant contributions to the Greater Boston community and will be honored at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting on May 14 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.  The 2008 inductees are:

• Micho Spring, Chair, U.S. Corporate Practice & Weber Shandwick New England, Weber Shandwick Worldwide
• Ted Cutler, Philanthropist and Vice President, The Interface Group – MA
• Lawrence K. Fish, Chairman, Citizens Financial Group
• Peter Meade, former Executive Vice President, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc.

Attracting more than 1,000 business and government leaders, the Chamber’s Annual Meeting & Dinner is a signature event for the region and one of the single largest gatherings of the Greater Boston business community.  The inductees will join a renowned group of current members of the Academy, including business leaders, philanthropists, governors, congressmen, cultural dignitaries, and sports greats.  More information on the Annual Meeting and a list of past inductees are available on bostonchamber.com. 

Micho Spring is chairperson of the U.S. Corporate practice and leads the New England office for Weber Shandwick Worldwide.  She is the former CEO of Boston Telecommunications Company, worked as Chief of Staff to Boston Mayor Kevin White, and served for four years as Deputy Mayor of the City of Boston.  As a government, civic, and business leader, Spring has helped shape public debate on numerous issues in Boston and beyond.  She has managed numerous political and advocacy campaigns, and is consistently ranked as one of Boston’s most powerful women.

Ted Cutler is an internationally recognized innovator in the travel industry and a leader in Boston’s civic and philanthropic communities, most notably in the fields of education, the arts, and health care. Over the course of several decades, Cutler has become a vital figure in the charitable and non-profit worlds of Greater Boston.  His current endeavors include creating a collaborative arts initiative with many recognized local institutions, serving as co-chair of the campaign for the Greater Boston Food Bank, and chair of the board of the Hebrew College.

Lawrence K. Fish is chairman of Citizens Financial Group (CFG).  Over the past fifteen years under Fish’s leadership, CFG has grown more than 30 fold, now ranking as one of the ten largest banking companies in the United States.  He holds leadership positions in numerous business and community organizations, serving as a director of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Textron, Inc., and a member of the MIT Corporation. Fish also serves as an overseer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and on the boards of Boston’s Dimock Community Foundation and Rosie’s Place.

Peter Meade is former executive vice president at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, where his leadership and experience were instrumental in strengthening ties with government and in the community.  A longtime leader in Boston’s business and civic life, Meade previously headed the New England Council, spent a decade as a talk show host on WBZ Newsradio 1030, and served as Boston public safety coordinator during federally mandated school desegregation.  He is the chair of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, chair of the board of trustees at Emerson College, and co-chair of MassInc.

Click here to register for the Chamber's 99th Annual Meeting on May 14.

This annual event featured the presentation of results from Sovereign's survey of Chamber members on the economy, as well as a panel discussion featuring Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill, John Fish, president & CEO of Suffolk Construction, and Ellen Zane, president & CEO of Tufts-New England Medical Center.

View photos of the event here.

On Wednesday, May 14, the Chamber’s 99th Annual Meeting & Dinner will be held at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.

Please join us as we inaugurate our new chair, Gloria Larson, president of Bentley College and the first woman to chair the Chamber in our distinguished history.

The Annual Meeting is the premier event on our program calendar, and is recognized as one of the largest gatherings of business leaders in the region. We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to connect and celebrate with fellow business leaders.

For more information on purchasing a table or registering for the event, click here.

Yesterday, the Chamber Women's Network hosted a breakfast discussion panel with some of Greater Boston's most successful professional women.

Carol Fulp, vice president of community relations at John Hancock Financial Services, Joanne Jaxtimer, senior vice president & director of public affairs at Bank of New York Mellon, and Geri Denterlein, president, Denterlein Worldwide and author of  "The Power Chicks’ Guide to Boston," shared their thoughts on how emerging professional women can find their way to the top of the Boston business community.

For photos of the event, click here.

At yesterday's Pinnacle Awards Luncheon, the Chamber's Women's Network honored eight outstanding women for their business and civic contributions. 


 
For photos of the event, click here.

For more information on the event, click here.

December's Leading Industries Executive Forum featuring Martin Sullivan, president & CEO of AIG, will be broadcast THIS Sunday, January 13, at 8:00 p.m. on 90.9 WBUR.

His speech last month to the Chamber focused on globalization, financial service regulation, crisis management, and increasing shareholder value.

Be sure to tune in this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. to 90.9 WBUR.

At yesterday's Leading Industries Executive Forum, the Chamber hosted Martin Sullivan, president & CEO of AIG, the world’s leading global insurance and financial services organization.  Just the third CEO in the 88-year history of AIG, Sullivan joined the company more than 35 years ago as a 17-year old office clerk.  He was named vice chairman and co-chief operating officer of AIG in 2002, and took over as president & CEO in 2005.

Sullivan has brought an open and inclusive management style to AIG, and helped quell unease among regulators and investors.  He has made AIG into a role model of governance reform and disclosure, improved transparency, and used his three decades of experience at the company to refine the corporate culture. Sullivan has now refocused one of the world’s first global companies (AIG was founded in Shanghai in 1919) on international expansion, and is working to open new markets in China, India, Russia, and Brazil.

His speech at yesterday's event (which can be heard on 90.9 WBUR on Sunday, January 6, at 8:00 p.m.), focused on globalization, financial service regulation, crisis management, and increasing shareholder value.

View photos of the event here, and be sure to listen to WBUR on Sunday, January 6, at 8:00 p.m.

Last night's Annual Holiday Reception was a huge success, as over 500 Chamber members gathered at 60 State Street. Click here for photos from the event.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter was the featured speakers at yesterday's Women's Network Event.

One of the most influential business strategists of our time, Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School. A former editor of the Harvard Business Review, she specializes in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change – and her insights have guided leaders of small businesses, large corporations, and governments for over 25 years.

Kanter is the author or co-author of 17 books, including The Change Masters, which was called one of the most influential business books of the 20th century – and her latest, America the Principled: 6 Opportunities for Becoming a Can-Do Nation Once Again.

For photos of the event, click here.

The Chamber today announced the winners of its 2008 Pinnacle Awards. 

Honoring the accomplishments of eight women in Greater Boston who have achieved excellence in business and management, the Pinnacle Awards will take place on January 24, at the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel.

The awards luncheon will feature Lisa Hughes, anchor at WBZ-TV, as the master of ceremonies.

This year’s honorees will be recognized for their accomplishments in the following categories:

• Achievement in Entrepreneurship: Kip Hollister, Founder & CEO, Hollister, Inc.;
• Achievement in Management, Private Sector:  Maura Banta, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs Regional Manager, IBM;
• Achievement in Management, Government: Leslie Kirwan, Secretary of Administration & Finance, Commonwealth of Massachusetts;
• Achievement in Management, Non-Profit: Catherine D’Amato, President & CEO, The Greater Boston Food Bank;
• Achievement in the Professions: Paula Johnson, M.D., M.P.H., Chief of Women’s Health, Brigham & Women’s Hospital;
• Excellence in Arts & Education: Dr. Jacqueline Weis Liebergott, President, Emerson College;
• Emerging Executive: Kim Steimle, EVP, Marketing, Business Development & Community Relations, Suffolk Construction Company, Inc.; and
• Lifetime Achievement: Natalie Jacobson, Former Anchor, WCVB-TV, Channel 5

“This year’s honorees exemplify excellence in their respective fields and their commitment to the region’s civic community is nothing short of remarkable,” said Paul Guzzi, president and CEO of the Chamber.  “Each recipient is an inspiration to women aspiring to lead in business, government, academia, and media, and the Chamber looks forward to honoring them in January.”

To register for the event, click here.

Now in its 14th year, the Pinnacle Awards are presented by the Women’s Network of the Greater Boston Chamber. The awards honor women for outstanding achievement in the workplace, demonstrated leadership that has made a difference, and a commitment to enhance the quality of life in the region.

The Women’s Network was founded in 1994 to promote and expand economic opportunities throughout the Greater Boston region for all women in business through shared leadership and expertise. The Women’s Network offers programs that provide career enrichment and development opportunities for women at all professional levels, spotlight the accomplishments of women, and promote the positive influence that women have upon the Greater Boston region.

Yesterday's Government Affairs Forum event with David Gergen was a huge hit among attendees, as the former presidential advisor discussed the challenges facing our next president, and added his thoughts about the current candidates. Gergen reasoned that whoever wins the White House in 2008 will face the most diffcult times of any president since Franklin Roosevelt. If you missed the program, you can hear it broadcast this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. on 90.9 WBUR.

For photos of yesterday's event, click here.

David Gergen – professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University – will be the featured speaker at the Chamber’s Government Affairs Forum on Tuesday.

Gergen has served in the White House as an adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and spent 18 months in the Clinton administration first as a Counselor to the President and then as Special Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State. In the fall of 2000 Gergen published a best-selling book entitled, Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton.

A current editor-at-large for U.S. News & World Report, Gergen regularly serves as an analyst on various news shows and is a frequent lecturer at venues around the world.

He will join the Chamber tomorrow morning at 7:45 a.m. at the Boston Park Plaza hotel to discuss the 2008 presidential election. To register for the event click here.

Yesterday morning, Entercom's Julie Kahn was the featured speaker at the Chamber's Women's Network breakfast program.

Julie is vice president & market manager of Entercom New England, a media company made up of seven radio stations throughout the region – including WRKO, WEEI, and WAAF.  She came to Boston in 2000 to oversee two of Entercom’s FM stations. 

In 2004, she added Sports Radio WEEI-AM to her responsibilities – becoming one of the only female general managers in sports radio and helping the station reach unprecedented success.  Since Kahn took the helm, WEEI has consistently led the Boston market in ratings and been recognized as one of the top sports stations in the country.  In 2006, she was given responsibility for the entire New England region, and is now overseeing further expansion as WEEI is syndicated across 11 new stations in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Cape Cod.

At yesterday's event, Julie spoke about her career and offered her advice for attaining success to the nearly 200 guests in attendance.

See photos of the event here.

Yesterday the Chamber hosted a panel of leading women in Greater Boston's health care industry as part of our Women's Network program.

The panel featured Deborah Enos, President & CEO of Neighborhood Health Plan; Dr. Barbara A.P. Rockett, a surgeon at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and president of the American Medical Association Foundation; and Kate Walsh, executive vice president & COO of Brigham & Women's Hospital.

Discussion ranged from the rise of women in the health care field, to the dilemma of maintaining quality care while combating rising cost.

Photos from the event can be viewed here.

Check out photos from yesterday's Small Business of the Year Awards program here.

Tomorrow, the Chamber will host its 23rd annual Small Business of the Year (SBOY) awards luncheon at 12:00 pm at the Sheraton Boston.

This year’s Small Business of the Year, Cafco Construction Management Inc., is a Boston-based construction management and general contracting firm specializing in a variety of development ventures. For nearly 20 years Cafco has built a solid reputation in the construction industry with a unique customer-driven approach and has been trusted with the construction needs of the best and brightest of New England.

Receiving this year’s Award for Business Excellence is The Piantedosi Baking Company, a third generation family-owned business.  A turn-of-the-century horse and buggy distributor turned national commercial bread operation, Piantedosi offers its customers big company capabilities with small company attention.  The company operates with the goal of being the premier bread-baker of the U.S. and employs more than 200 people from 19 different countries.

Dr. Ian Lane Davis, CEO & Founder of Mad Doc Software, LLC, will be honored with the first-ever Entrepreneur of the Year Award.  Dr. Davis is widely acknowledged as one of the top artificial intelligence experts in the video game industry and has consulted some of the world’s leading game developers, including Microsoft Game Studios, Disney Interactive, and Universal Games.  He founded Mad Doc in 1999, and the company is now responsible for more than 10 million units in the game market worldwide.

The SBOY Awards recognize the entrepreneurial achievements of Greater Boston’s smaller for-profit companies who have gross revenues over $1 million and display strong financial performance, achievement in management, workplace excellence, product innovation, and community and social responsibility.

Winners were selected from a large pool of qualified applicants that was first narrowed down to nine semi-finalists, from which a group of finalists was selected. The SBOY selection committee made site visits to the finalists to gain first-hand knowledge of their operations.  Previous winners of the SBOY Awards include Stacy’s Pita Chip Company, Finagle a Bagel, Boston Duck Tours, Gentle Giant Moving Company, Nantucket Nectars, and J.P. Licks. 

WBZ's Anthony Silva will moderate the event, and Au Bon Pain president & CEO Sue Morelli will be the keynote speaker.

Be sure to save the date, Wednesday, May 14, 2008 for the Chamber's 99th Annual Meeting.

The Annual Meeting is the high point of the Chamber’s program calendar and among the largest gatherings of business leaders in Greater Boston, attracting more than 1,000 attendees. A highlight of the program is the induction of one or more accomplished citizens into the Academy of Distinguished Bostonians.

Click here to see a full list of Distinguished Bostonians.

If you missed September's Leading Industry Executive Forum with John Chambers, president & CEO of Cisco, be sure to tune in on Sunday night at 8:00 pm to 90.9 WBUR – Boston’s NPR station. You can preview the speech here.

As the chairman and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems, Inc. Chambers has increased annual revenues from $1.2 billion to approximately $30 billion, expanded markets overseas, and successfully guided the company through the dot.com bust.  Chambers has raised the bar for civic involvement by corporate leaders, serving in appointed positions under Presidents Clinton and Bush, and spearheading philanthropic efforts across the globe – from the rebuilding of New Orleans and Lebanon, to efforts to expand educational opportunities in the Middle East.

Lauded by government leaders and countless publications for his visionary strategy and ability to drive an entrepreneurial culture, Chambers has been called “CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive Magazine, the “Best Boss in America” by 20/20, and “America’s Best CEO” by Institutional Investor Magazine.  Under his leadership, Cisco has consistently ranked as one of the best companies to work for, the world’s number one networking company, and was named the stock of the decade (1990s) by CNN.  Before joining Cisco, Chambers spent eight years at Wang Laboratories and six years at IBM. He is a graduate of West Virginia University and the West Virginia University College of Law, and earned his MBA at Indiana University.

If you missed Monday’s Government Affairs Forum with Congressman Ed Markey, be sure to tune in on Sunday night at 8:00 pm to 90.9 WBUR – Boston’s NPR station.  

The dean of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, Congressman Markey addressed numerous issues in his speech – including the war in Iraq, global warming, energy, and the telecommunications industry.